 Welcome to another edition of conversation with the shipmate. I'm petty officer Nick Brown aboard USS Carl Vinson operating in the Arabian Gulf Admiral McPine. Good morning. Thank you for joining us today. What Carl Vinson? How are you doing? Oh, good morning? It's good to be here You're looking good. You can't see his shoes ladies and gentlemen, but he's got the shiniest shoes Now see you know your last conversation with the shipmate was with the Fleet cyber forces command regarding cyber warfare The electromagnetic spectrum and the IDC community now today. We'd like to take a look into your recent position report And focus on the future of aviation and also talk about some of the issues that you and McPine are focused on Now before we get started though, I noticed that you're both wearing the FRB coveralls now These are kind of new. What do you think about them there? How do they feel? Well, they're comfortable, but I don't wear them all the time So but what we need to do with the McPine and I have been talking about this with the sailors here on the Vinson strike group They need to be durable. They have to have good utility You know, they have enough pockets to catch on things elbows wear too much. They tear too easily These are kind of it's the kind of feedback we need. We will evolve I mean we got we got about 95 percent of these distributed But we bought several increments and we will continue to do that So what we need while we're here and actually across the fleet we need feedback and we'll get this right We'll make this an effective uniform Sir, where where should sailors go to to provide you with that feedback? Well, how about starting with the chain of command, you know, tell their LPO get online McPine's Facebook my Facebook Feedback from this it doesn't matter. We'll take all take it all your letters. You know, it's your text We'll take a tweet And McPine we have obviously we have the FRB cover all is here a board call of Vincent But some of the other ships in the fleet haven't received them yet Can you talk to us a little bit about what the future is what the rollout plan is for for the rest of the ships in the fleet? Yeah, we'll continue to issue the FRVs to units that are getting ready to deploy It's a supply challenge They're making them as fast as they can and we'll get them to the ships that need them just prior to deployment Until everybody's outfitted McPine what a what feedback have you heard from the fleet about the cover all so far? Well, I had a Opportunity last night to talk to about 300 or so chiefs and if you want to talk to critics talk to 300 chiefs and They told me that by and large they like it as the CNO just mentioned with a few practical modifications That they talked to me about And maybe a somewhat different fabric slightly different fabric I think we're pretty close to having a uniform that everybody can be real happy with which in and by itself is pretty amazing Because I've never seen In 30 years, you know all of our sailors happy with the working uniform that we have And so if we almost accidentally bumped into a uniform that most of our sailors are pretty happy with with a few Modifications, they're going to be real happy with why not pursue it? So we're taking that feedback. We'll go back and see what it takes to make that happen Now the modifications that you mentioned and that the Admiral mentioned it almost sounds like you described Something similar to like a flight suit. Is that is that anywhere close to what we might be moving toward? Well, I would tell you I when you look at the traditional seabag blue cover all When you look at this cover all and you look at some of the features of the flight suit and you put all three of those together You come up with a pretty good uniform, you know the velcro belt Maybe like the flight suit has some pockets the weight of the blue cover all the fire resistant properties of this cover all Maybe you have to do something to create the knees and elbows so that they're a little bit more durable But when you put all three together as a hybrid You come up with a pretty good product. So I think we'll we'll take a look at that and see where it takes us Now I'd like to switch gears a little bit and talk about aircraft now What are your thoughts on the future of aviation? I know that there were there was a milestone with the f-35 recently and then The the e2 Delta Reaching an initial operational capability. Can you talk to us a little bit about that today? Sure, you you mentioned probably three of the key aircraft platforms the future air wing because you've got the e2d which has tremendous more range great resolution and It can net it turns the air wing into a and any aircraft that joined the air wing like on a mission To a huge network and now you have just totally expanded this thing There's this idea of this concept called nifca which is Navy integrated fire control counter air But it can go into other missions. So you got the growler, which is suppression. That's enemy Counter air and other EW a suppression like to a magnetic suppression I mean you're taking a quantum leap with the growler You're taking another big jump with the e2d and then you got the f-35c. It's got more weight Got more fuel. In other words, it can carry more weight more fuel It can jam and of course the Super Hornet which is becoming the workhorse Those are the future aircraft add to that the kind of payloads and sensors we got You just described the air wing of the next decade probably for the next decade and a half Now I know that recently right here on this very flight deck. We did a test with eight growlers Can you talk to us a little bit about that? What was the the reasoning behind that and why it's important sure see people think if I had five growlers here So you get five in here and say no actually, you know one's usually in maintenance And then you might have one that has a casualty get three on a mission So if you go to aid you're looking at maybe six available The two expand out and what you're talking about is granting access We talked a lot about joint assured access. Do you hear the term anti access area denial? Well, you have to get in all right and what I mean by getting in is a lot of current air Special radars something has to suppress that jam at spoof it Communications that's what the growler is the platform does it's got the pods Okay, which it uses which has that jamming capability. We're building a new pod. It's called the next generation gym It's awesome. I mean it it has a vast series of spectrums and Frequencies it goes on so I'm not gonna geek you out here and I'm at the limit of what I know anyway But let me just say it is leap into the future. So this air wing went out and said what can we do with this thing? What kind of jump do you get and it's kind of like being a knee in the curve as they like to say Where if you get into seven or eight growlers the capability there way sort of ramps up almost exponential Great. Now, I'd like to go back. We just talked about the growlers. I'd like to go back to the f-35 I saw that you recently took a trip to Naval Air Station. Lamar. Is that true? Can you tell us a little bit about that? Well, I had never been there So I need to get out there. This is what we call a master jet base. All right We have two of them, Oceana. People talk about Oceana cause while it's on the East Coast It's easiest right in Hampton Rose Norfolk area But Lamar out here and out here out there in Central California is enormous and that will be the first location For the f-35. So you're talking new hangers. You're talking runway expansion You're talking simulator expansion. You're talking maintenance expansion. So Lamar is going to grow it is considered by some of remote sites really that remote and in fact You know, I was on board here Vincent ran into a guy yesterday and we started chatting a little bit about Lamar What do you think of it? And you guys say well, I spent I've been in about 23 years It's been 14 of them in Lamar. Some folks say you can't homestead there and this guy They are a boss if I might but I'll skip the names He liked it. So I think we need to understand and embrace the fact that that's our master jet base here West That's our first home to the f-35 Let's make sure it's a great place an appropriate place for our future Do you think that that's gonna build up the the area because I've I spent a week in Lamar for for training And I know that it is by some accounts a little remote Do you think it's gonna it's gonna do something to to build up the the area a little bit? Well, it'll have to I mean We're gonna increase the footprint the support for that footprint. We'll have to increase the community relationship is terrific It is right. It's a huge Agricultural area and that sort of makes sense. It would be quote-unquote remote. I can have a lot of cities built around it So we'll have to work around that as we do with other sites Japan Japan used to be a place Nobody wanted to go it was forever on the other side. It is on the other side of the world But now we can't keep people out of Japan, you know, once they get in there We'll go to work on it make sure that I what we have there supports our families our sailors Now mcpawn given your background in aviation I know that you probably got your eye on on the future of aviation. You kind of it's near and dear to your heart But I'd like to switch and ask you a question about Something that's that you also have a little bit of experience in and that would be a The role of leadership in today's Navy. Can you talk to us a little bit about that today? Well, that same 300 chiefs that I talked to about the FRVs. We had another great conversation about leadership Across the Navy we have about 30,000 a little over 30,000 chief petty officers and we've stacked hands and we've We've decided that we've crew we want a definition on what it is to be a chief petty officer a written definition So that everybody can work towards that end and that definition is chief petty officers are or should be quiet humble Servant leaders and if someone's watching this video, I would ask that they write that down quiet humble servant leaders because Leaders have responsibilities to set conditions and then maintain those conditions that provide all of our people with an opportunity To be successful. It does not matter who it is. They all deserve an equal opportunity to be successful We don't make them successful But we certainly have to provide the opportunity so that they can reach out and that they can become successful And just as importantly we must do this while treating one another with dignity and respect Until we get leadership right just about everything else is going to be hard It's it's about doing it right up front so that you're not Taking care of all the each is down the road yesterday one of our ships visit I said envision the fire triangle, you know, we can run around with co2 bottles putting out Sexual assault and domestic violence and alcohol abuse and misconduct DUIs, you know, et cetera Or we can get the leadership piece right remove an element of that fire triangle remove the heat, right? And then all those fires don't pop up, but you remove the heat with good leaders quiet humble servant leaders that provide opportunity for everybody to be successful and we do that while treating one another with Dignity and respect right get it right up front so that you're not chasing yourself in the end, okay? Sounds like you want to get a more proactive approach to the Yeah It's about being preventive right not about being reactionary it takes it takes effort though leadership command leadership our triads are our most senior Leaders they got to invest they got to give our sailors the time to train We got to put the training in place and we got to treat it with the seriousness that it deserves and that our sailors should expect and demand from us Don't you love it when the mcpaw simplifies this it's it's very direct and you know a lot of times simple is good It's easy remember fire triangle. I got it Now admiral we saw your position report that you you put out was last week And you addressed a lot of the accomplishments that we've made in a lot of different areas over the past year of those areas Where do you think sailors on the deck plates can can do the most to help promote that to help? Keep those accomplishments moving forward I think the area that most relates to and will influence the sailors is what we call the optimized That is our approach to it's not simplified It's sort of bring a better covenant between what I do Well, we do it hit worse organized train equip folks like the Vincent strike group here preparing to deploy Do it properly what I mean by that is To give have the right shipyard capacity You bring an aircraft carrier nuclear aircraft carrier or any of the cruisers and destroyers with this group or amphibious ready group Infra maintenance, they're ready to do the maintenance packages are written We're not paying a premium. We give that that shipyard enough time private or public Bring the people to the care to the strike group to the units well enough in advance So they are manned up with the team ready to go through the training phase the basic blocking and tackling in addition to the advanced training of the integrated piece and then to set a stable and consistent Deployment pattern to get back to us to get back to a seven That's our sweet spot. We've looked at that said that gives people that gives the combatant commander in my view Enough presence out there to work with the same time. It gives our people the professional opportunity To develop themselves at the same time. So get the capacity right man up, right? Don't do needless inspections for making inspections So you're not spending so much time to see just the one inspections and then a seven month deployment come back You're available for surge, but then you're on call. Okay? You'll gracefully grade and readiness and let's call it out and start that cycle. Yeah, it's a 36 month process instead of a 32 Pattern and that we think the home temple, that's the percentage of time at home Over that entire cycle can rise to about sixty three percent Sitting at somewhere around 50% now over that whole cycle. We can do better. It can be more efficient That's the piece that involves your curves involves each individual sailor It involves leadership bringing you planning be right me getting the capacity to write the ship you are right This is a whole effort and then I've got to be square with the joint staff and the combat commanders on what are we going to provide and What's going to be extra you're going to have to pay for this beyond, you know, this presence that will provide Sounds like I know that We're currently on what is probably going to be a ten month deployment and that's that's tough It's a hard pill to swallow It sounds like you've probably heard the gripes and complaints of sailors saying hey ten months is a little much Is that is that kind of the driving force behind making these changes so that we can get back to the seven months What I mean by that it's it's not sustainable You can't take people on ten month performance all the preps and do it can't take these aircraft This nuclear carry out ten months at a time when you burn the fuel up before it's ready to refuel And at number two you'll you'll wear out the propellers and machinery and all that We're out the people and we need these people and that's just too much so we need to We're getting out of kind of a trough that occurred when we had the sequestration business a couple of years ago This carrier was held up in its its maintenance cycle in early training cycle the Reagan behind her ahead of her The bush was sitting there not not doing anything for a while Meanwhile, somebody was standing the watch the stennis was out there standing the watch the Truman was out there standing the watch Their their deployment got extended So when that happens and the next guy's behind you as late they get how that so you see where this is It's a domino effect We'll be out of this domino effect due to the maintenance hangups if we get a stable budget for about another year I've been pretty clear with the congress on this my boss and all that So we can get to that point we can get back to that optimized Rotation the fleet response plan we can get back to seven month point So we need a stable budget We need a not the world is not stable But we we need a world without any major conflict Something like this isis campaign we can handle that with the forces that we have deployed to But we can do this we can get back there. I'm sure So it sounds like that's another proactive approach to to a problem that we've Identified for the navy big pond. Let's talk about a subject that's nearly always close to sailors on the deck plates We just finished our latest prt cycle and a lot of the sailors here And ashore would like to know if there are any changes coming to the bca's the way ins in the the prt and the way we're doing things now The number one Complaint if you want to call it a complaint that I get from our sailors isn't the actual physical test itself the Push-ups the sit-ups and the run the bike the swim the elliptical It's the it's how we do the bca cno mentioned yesterday how we're In the middle of an uh, I wouldn't call it an experiment in the middle of a project a process where we're Measuring body types because body types change Over the years. So we haven't we haven't checked the what's that called cno the anthropolactic close enough measurements of people for for two decades And we believe that body types have changed that in general people are a little bigger now than they were 20 25 years ago But our bca process is still established based on You know those timeframes those later timeframes And so sailors are concerned about the height weight more than anything else and so Maybe it's time that we take a look at that We're not doing that right now But maybe it's time to look at that when when you look at a sailor and they look physically fit They're they're in good shape And they're only a pound or two from being overweight based on the chart or they are overweight makes you scratch your head Right, so maybe it's time that we take a look at that We're we're continuously taking feedback from the fleet On physical readiness and we were working always working to find ways to do it better But it's got to be efficient. It's got to be effective And whatever we do we have to be able to do anywhere in the world on any platform So what works In the pentagon in washington dc is not going to work on the carl vinson in the northern arabian gulf Is not going to work on a submarine that's underway So we've got to find that process of doing business That fits our navy as a whole and that's not always easy because we're so diverse In our missions and where we're at and what what kind of access we have But that doesn't mean we're not going to continue to work to make improvements Okay, thank you Uh now admiral you said before that one of your favorite aspects of your job is being able to come out to the fleet Get on the deck plates talk with sailors do stuff like this and participate in In reenlistment ceremonies What are what are some of the things that you feel like you're going to take away from from your fleet visits this week here in the gulf Well, i'm always inspired I work in washington dc and people say this place is uncertain the budget's uncertain Where are we going there are personnel changes leadership changes What i love coming out here is there's no uncertainty people know precisely what they're doing They're ready for the next mission. They're getting up as as we look around us There's ordinance moving on the deck and there's a sense of purpose here That's very inspiring to know that okay things are good out here and that's what really matters But you know, we've been talking about uniforms and we giggle. We say why are we talking about this all the time? Well, because they put it on every day and that's it's on their body So we've learned a lot about what is the right kind of wear for them day in and day out We talked about deployments, you know the question we just had. Hey, what is this 10 mark deployment stuff? We talked about okay advancement. Well, how are we doing on this? What should I look forward to? And there's a lot of strategic questions. How's this campaign going this isle campaign? What about your what's going on out in the pacific? You know, they're here as they say the tip of the spear. Well, they are there's like three spears that we sort of have And people at each of the tips over in the western pacific and them and the guys and gals there in the med But anyway, we talked about all of that And they would just kind of know this navy that they've invested themselves in. Where's it headed? Where's my country? So it's all inspiring and it's right, but then we get down to the count of the basics the boots, you know, the uniform and all that kind of business Sir mcfond, is there anything that you guys would like to add before we wrap up? As cno and i are sitting here Taping conversation with a shipmate. I'm you can't see it on the camera But i'm looking around and i'm just seeing sailors working and hustling and getting airplanes ready for Flight ops. It's pretty impressive. I'm in awe This visit has put me in awe Mostly with the attitudes of our sailors. They know they're out here for nearly 10 months But it Doesn't seem to phase them. I'm sure they feel it and i'm sure their families feel it but the the positive attitude they have Makes me ashamed to complain when i'm in traffic in washington dc So i won't complain about traffic when i get back because they're out here doing the heavy lifting for our navy and for our nation Talked to a young lady at Dinner last night for Thanksgiving. I said so what do you think about this 10 month deployment? She said i don't know mcfond. I don't have anything else to compare it to this is my first deployment So i guess everything else will be easy after this So and then lastly just like to mention to our sailors what i call foundation to success I say it all the time. I'm not going to get into the the details of it, but it's work hard Stay out of trouble and be a good and decent person every single day to the best of your ability And i'm confident that you'll have a successful career and you'll be success. It's successful in life as general It's a privilege and an honor to be here in the opportunity to do this conversation with a shipmate episode with the cno Very much appreciate it sir. Thank you So you're always big on three things so i'll give them three things These people are always thinking about war fighting at first. We're operating florid out here and they are ready So that kind of wraps that piece of it up. It's Thanksgiving. I want to say thanks. Thanks to you brownie for this opportunity Thanks for a great mcpond here for our good navy and all these folks and people in the sound of our voice. Thanks for serving Admiral mcpond, I'd like to thank you as well for taking the time to come out and chat with me I really appreciate it. I had a good time. I hope you had as well um And we look forward to our next opportunity to sit down with you and discuss What the navy is doing and where we're going? Thanks again I'm petty officer nick brown aboard america's favorite carrier uss. Carl vinson operating in the fifth fleet area of responsibility